Between 2014 and 2018, Audi will invest a total of around €22 billion (US$30 billion) into new models, innovations and the continuous expansion of the worldwide production network. 70% of the investment is intended for new models and technologies. The company’s sites in Germany will also benefit from the largest technical development and investment program in company history—more than half of the planned investment will go to the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites.

We had set the goal of 1.5 million deliveries per year by 2015, but we already achieved that quite comfortably in 2013. We are now decisively steering towards our next milestone of two million deliveries. This is why we are keeping our foot on the gas regarding investments and why we are hiring new employees in 2014.

—Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management

To achieve its goal of two million deliveries per year, Audi wants to expand its product range from the current 49 models to 60 different models by 2020. In addition to developing new models and alternative drive concepts, the current investment program also provides for the next generation of fuel-efficient engines, which will enable Audi to meet stricter emissions legislation worldwide.

Investment in fixed assets will amount to €16 billion (US$22 billion). In addition to the fixed assets, the new investment program includes €6 billion (US$8.3 billion) in capitalized development costs.

In the future, we will be investing increasingly in new products: 70 percent is intended for the modernization and expansion of the model range and for our portfolio of technologies.

—Axel Strotbek, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Finance and Organization

In addition to the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid and A3 Sportback natural gas g-tron, Audi plans to launch the third generation of the Audi TT Coupé on the market in 2014.

More than half of the planned investments will go to its German production sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. The Audi Group is also expanding overseas, and will build its first Audi factory in North America, in the Mexican city of San José Chiapa, where the Audi Q5 is scheduled to roll off the production line starting in 2016. So far, 26,000 people have applied for jobs in Mexico, where more than 1,000 new Audi employees will be hired in 2014 alone.

Furthermore, Audi has plans to begin producing again in Brazil, starting in 2015. In São José dos Pinhais, the Ingolstadt-based car manufacturer will produce the new A3 Sedan and the Audi Q3. At the Hungarian site in Győr, the company is continuing to invest heavily following successful completion of a full vehicle production plant. In Foshan, the company’s second plant in China is about to begin production. Audi has already delivered more than 460,000 cars to customers in China this year.